The Story You've all Been Waiting For

Okay so maybe you haven't been waiting for my version of Monday's events, but I try to flatter myself into thinking that what I'm about to write might be somewhat interesting to at least one person.

Like I've said so many times before, I was really wanting to be done with this most recent pregnancy for many, varied reasons. My contractions started up again during church on Sunday, so we left early to get the kids ready and contact the babysitter. You can imagine my disappointment when, after an hour of timing them and and having them come in quick succession, they stopped just as we got home.
Monday morning I went to my doctor appointment and my blood pressure was still a little too high for my doctor to be comfortable,(around 157/94) so he sent me accross the street to the hospital to get some blood tests and a non-stress test. He wanted to check the baby, and the possibility of preeclampsia creeping in. Everything came out normal but the blood pressure was not going down, so he decided to try to force me into labor by breaking my water. I called Chris and he took care of all the details at home and came to the hospital. At 1:00 PM the doctor did his thing and I proceeded into an "active labor" state. By 1:30 I was in A LOT OF PAIN and so asked for my epidural. Unfortunately the anesthesiologist was in the middle of another procedure and so I had to wait. By 2:00 I was crying and begging for any kind of pain relief. At 2:05 the anesthesiologist showed up, rushed through his procedural warnings and made me scribble on the consent form. He got as far as putting the iodine on my back when I felt the contractions forcing me to push, so we gave up on the pain meds and went ahead with the "natural" birth. Needless to say IT HURT A LOT!!!! I seem to recall myself telling the doctor to "pull it out NOW!" several times.







Now we have three boys, and I can say that I've experienced three different kinds of labor. C-Section, self-induced with an epidural, and a doctor-induced natural birth. There are pros and cons for each experience, but I have to say, even considering the terrible state I was in during my 30 hours of "labor" with Landon, the "natural" way was my least favorite. I seem to be recovering better without the aftereffects of an epidural, but I really hate pain! Of course, Seth was worth every ounce of it. Now if he would just sleep as well at night as he does during the day......